Unexplained Sickness and Uncanny Resemblance
The Doctor is In It was the beginning of a seemingly normal day at the Koma Inu guild. Scorpius had just walked into the guild as per usual and headed to the Job Board. As he stood there, stretching and yawning, he noticed a new flyer had been tacked onto the board. He took down the flyer to be able to read it better. Help! the flyer began with large lettering.'' Our town has fallen to a strange illness that is turning everyone into stone. So far, travelers and outsiders are unaffected. Please come and help us find the source of the illness. A reward will be offered to those who come. '' Scorpius continued to read the details of the job at the bottom of the flyer before stuffing it into his pants pocket. "Koda Town huh?" he said to himself as he went down to the library to find a map of Fiore. After finding his destination he traced a crude guide on the back of the flyer before heading home to grab his gear. After a kiss goodbye to his wife and child he headed toward Koda Town. Two hours later, Scorpius arrived at Koda Town. Though there was not a cloud in the sky to interfere with the sun beating its warm rays upon this humble village of two-story colonial-style homes, the people dragged their feet as they went about their business with disheartened and gloomy countenances. He walked further into the village, looking to find the person who sent the job request when a short young girl, aged 16, approached him. She had short brown hair reaching only to her shoulders. She wore a black tank top that hugged her petite waist. On her fair skin were patches of grey discoloration. She noticed his eyes wander and his face look confused. She spoke up, "Um, sir? Are you here from Koma Inu?" Scorpius looked the girl over for a moment before responding. "Yes I am. I am looking for the person who issued the job request. Any way you could take me to them?" He asked the young girl. She nodded before grabbing his hand and taking him deeper into the village. They came to the steps of a large church turned field hospital for those who are ill. "Inside we'll find the people who asked for the help." the girl said before they opened the doors into the main building of the church facilities. Inside were dozens of men, women, and children who were turning into stone or were completely solidified to the point of paralysis. Scorpius covered his mouth reflexively to stop himself from making a sound. He walked past many of the patients who seemed to have lost all hope in their eyes. He tried not to look as he approached two men near the back of them room. "These two men are the ones in charge of this town. they will explain everything that's been going on. Also, my name is Aiko Masuda, Kaito's daughter." She said as she walked away and faded into the crowd of trying their best to comfort and treat each other. Both men looked like they were twins and both were middle-aged. One had short Spiky Brown hair and the other blonde hair that ran down to his shoulders. "So I take it that you're from Koma Inu." The Brown-haired man spoke, "Thank you for coming to our aid. My name is Junji Masuda and this is my brother, Kaito Masuda. And yours?" "The name is Scorpius Dākukawa. I am a water mage from Koma Inu at your service. From your flyer it said that town was turning to stone and I was intrigued. I didn't realize it had progressed this far. Is there anyone here who can tell me more about what is happening to everyone?" Scorpius said in reply to Junji. He looked around the room, trying to piece together in his head an idea of what happened to everyone. Junji looked at the crowd of sick people. "About two months ago, several people fell ill to this strange disease that slowly turns them to stone. It continues until the whole body is petrified. At that point, the person has no hope to live." Kaito piped in. "This illness doesn't affect outsiders of this village, and we found out that it only affects villagers who live here but venture out of the village. Though we lost a few villagers, recently got the help of a traveling doctor whose magic seems to counteract the spread of this illness, so right now, we aren't as bad off as we were before. However, while this person is busy treating the villagers, we need someone to investigate the cause of this illness so we can wipe it out for good. We are counting on you for this." Scorpius nodded his head and said, "I'll do my best." Then, suddenly the double doors of the church burst wide open. Standing in the threshold was a tall man in a blue cotton button-down, black slacks and shiny black shoes. He had brown hair cut in a Medium fade with a small mohawk running atop his head, as well as a short beard. Next to him was a short young woman with long silver hair in a big braid runnign down her back. She wore a black sweater in spite of the blistering heat outside, black leggings and fur boots.. Junji chuckled, "Well, looks like the doctor is in." Something Familiar To the man who just walked through the door, he saw everyone stare at him, then their gloomy faces give way to smiles and glimmering eyes. The atmosphere lightened, and idle chatter filled the room. "Sorry i kept you guys waiting today. I had to recharge after yesterday's ordeal. I'm back for another round of operations and today, i am gonna start by treating those who are critically close to complete petrification," he announced to the crowd. Stewart scoured the church for any victims who were as he described, and then he knelt down at a young woman whose whole body was grey except for her head. He looked at the mona in the eyes and caught her gaze. This look is one that this man had seen before; eyes full of despair offset by a small sliver of hope that she may be cured. Stewart took a breath, bowed his head, and put his hands together. "Alright, let's begin. Second Origin..." then the man's eyes opened as he shouted, "Release!" A cold breeze emanated from his body as his chest began to glow a mix of red and green. Powerful jets of glowing red and green magic energy jutted out of his back, making him look as if he had the wings of a dragon. The jets of magic continued for a few seconds, blowing wind behind him before they died down, leaving Stewart to glow with a shimmering green aura. As this happened, everybody in the room, including his patient and Scorpius, felt an overwhelming sense of peace; like their worries melted away. "Let the loving kindness of the Arctic Dragon rebuke your illness and restore your body!" Stewart proclaimed. He placed his hands on the woman's cold petrified body for a few seconds before he burst into action. Stewart delivered countless swift strikes to every pressure point on the front of her body in such a way where it was hard for the eyes to follow. Then Stewart shouted as he raised his right hand and slammed it down upon the woman's abdomen as hard as he could. As he did, an intense burst of green magic energy shot from his hand and enveloped her body as her skin gradually was restored of color and reverted back to flesh. While this was all happening Scorpius watched in awe and surprise. There is something familiar to this man... I can't place it. He thought as the radiant light slowly faded. Scorpius came up next to the man to inspect the girl. "Impressive work. She seems much more comfortable thankfully. Mind if you help to explain what is going on to the towns' people on the physical level here?" Scorpius asked the man. The man looked at Scorpius, "Thank you sir. I take it you are a mage from Koma Inu sent to assist in getting rid of this illness. As you can see, the illness that plagues this town slowly turns its townfolk to stone down to the cellular level. The cause of this, i found to be a small lump of magic energy within the abdomen that is left there by whatever invisible force puts it there. After the person contracts it, the petrification process can take about two weeks to finally complete. Once that happens, not even my magic can save their lives. That all said, i have an idea of how the villagers are getting this small amount of pervasive magic in their bodies but..." He stood upright and faced Scorpius, reaching his hand out. "Forgive my rudeness. My name is Doctor Hart. And yours?" Scorpius was amused at the sudden shift in the attitude of the doctor's. He took the hand and shook it firmly. "My name is Scorpius. I am a mage that focuses on the water element. Thank you for the work you are doing to help these people. I know it can't be easy. That said, what is your idea? I want to try and find an answer to the troubles here quickly for everyone." Scorpius with humble confidence that he could find at least the source of the magic. Dr. Hart looked toward the still-open door of the church. "Well, Given that those who venture out of the village get this bad magic into their bodies, I hypothesize that there is some type of magic barrier around the village that 'tags' whoever passes through it with this illness. While this seems to be the case, I have my hands full in trying to save the lives of these villagers. If there is a place for you to start checking, I think that the outskirts of the village would be a good start." He said. He started walking to another poor soul whose body was almost turned to stone. "However, go about this the way you see fit. I just want this over with. As much as I'd love to talk, i have to continue working. Best of luck to you." He started his healing routine with his next patient. Scorpius took this as his time to leave, so he took one more look around the sanctuary before leaving through the doors to the outside. Scorpius looked around to get a sense of his surroundings in the village. Across from the doors of the church stood the village library/ mayor's building. Between these two buildings stood a well that seemed to mark the center of the village square. Scorpius went over to the well as he was thirsty as well as had an idea. "Maybe the water can tell me something of importance," he said to himself as he looked down the well. He used his magic and pulled up strands of water to surround his hand and fingers. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he took in information from the water below the village. A couple moments flew by as he saw the town through the various strands and byways the water in the village flowed. He felt a strange energy radiating from the south of the village. As Scorpius focused his thoughts toward that part of town he was suddenly startled by a voice, causing his connection with the water to break and his vision was forced back to the well. He opened his eyes and looked around quickly for the source of the voice, ready to defend himself for an attack. "Hey, Don't mind if i tag along?" It was Kaito Masuda. He ran toward Scorpius. "If I tag along with you, I can save you the trouble of having to report to Town Hall once you find the source of this mayhem. You don't mind, correct?" Scorpius sighed to calm himself. "Of course I don't mind. A second pair of eyes would be most helpful." he said in response to Kaito. "I think I want to check out the southern most part of town. I have a feeling a clue may be there for us." "Great, then let's not waste any time." Kaito said. At The South Side Of Town The two arrived at the Southern side of the town. "Hey Scorpius, Just letting you know that I am not a mage, so I don't know how much of a help I'll be to you. However, I'll try my best to assist you, so if there is anything you need, let me know," Kaito said. Scorpius scanned around him, noticing two paths leading to the one into town surrounded by vegetation. He sighed as he turned to Kaito. "Is there any way to tell how far a resident can go before they are affected by the illness?" Scorpius said as he looked towards the paths again mulling over his next step. "Well, if there is, i have no idea. I don't know if this helps, but the sickness seems to also affect cattle that strayed out of the village as well." Kaito answered "Hmm," Scorpius mused. "So it affects everything living within the town?" Scorpius said as he pulled at a decent sized branch on a tree. The branch broke off with a satisfying snap. Scorpius took the branch and held it out in front of him. He walked down the path away from the town slowly. A few feet away he felt the branch beginning to change. He backed up and marked a line on the path as a marker. "If we don't pass this marker, we will be safe for you to search with me." Scorpius said with a triumphant smile. Kaito smiled, "Well, well. I'm impressed. Dr. Hart wasn't kidding when he said he knew old friends who had sharp minds." He looked at the stick on the ground and continued, "Well, now we're getting somewhere. I heard that mages have the ability to sense magic around them. Do you sense anything out of the ordinary here?" "As far as I know some of us do. Let me see..." Scorpius said as he closed his eyes. He cleared his mind with a deep breath, taking in his surroundings. After a moment he felt a strong pull of magic to his side. He opened his eyes and sprinted towards the source, focusing on it alone. After a few moments of sprinting, he came across a small ravine. Within the ravine, a small stream of water was bubbling along towards the town. This may be one of the sources for the well, Scorpius thought as he walked closer to the water. He felt the pull of the magic upstream of his position. He walked closer as he felt the ground beneath him turn to stone. He looked down and was shocked at what was at his feet. A young boy lay still, his whole body except for his neck upward turned to stone. As he stared at Scorpius, his eyelids struggled to keep open as they were powered only by the small sliver of hope he got when he saw Scorpius approach him. He saw in this boy's brown eyes the same despair that overcame those gathered in the church. "S-sir..." He spoke. Scorpius got closer to the boy with a mixture of anger and grief. He placed a hand on one of the boy's arms, but only felt stone in his grip. "Do you know what caused this?" Scorpius asked as quickly and calmly as he could. He looked to Kaito for help but knew in the back of his mind that it may already be too late for the boy. Upon seeing the boy, Kaito immediately went to Scorpius' side and whispered, "I'll be right back, I'll see if I can fetch Dr. Hart to treat this man while he still has time." He bolted off into the woods toward Koda village. With only Scorpius in front of him, the man mustered up the little strength he had left to speak to Scorpius. As Kaito Ran off, the boy saw him and recognized him simply by the way he ran. He turned to Scorpius and muttered, "That man... That man is..." he started coughing to the point where some blood rose up from deep within his throat. "Hold on," Scorpius said as he grabbed his stone body and flipped it over so the blood would drain out and not clog his trachea. As this was happening, Kaito stopped running and turned around. He picked up a small stone, no bigger than three inches, and said, "Requip" as a slingshot, in a faint display of yellow light, appeared in his hand. As he gripped the rock, his eyes glowed a chromatic grey red. He then placed the rock onto the slingshot, and with Scorpius just barely in sight, he pulled back the rock as far as he could, took a deep breath, and released. The stone flung through the air with incredible speed and force and, in less than mere seconds, stroke the back of Scorpius' head. "What..." Scorpius said as he turned his head around to see what had attacked him before his vision went black. It was not just the speed and power, but also the incredible precision honed only by years of practice that knocked Scorpius unconscious before he collapsed atop this mysterious dying boy. "It's hilarious how you were so eager to help out this town that you took everything at face value. Good job on playing yourself." Kaito mumbled as he dashed through the woods back to town. -at the edge of the woods near the south side of town- "Hey Kristina, Let's spend the rest of our break having lunch right here." Dr. Hart said as he sat down onto the soft, verdant grass. Kristina followed suit and then unloaded two lunchboxes, one filled with finely assembled sushi made with a variety of Salmon and Tuna, with the other filled with raw steak fillets. She looked up at the clear blue sky and as the cool breeze picked up, she took a deep breath. "You know, I couldn't have asked for a better day than this." Kristina looked at Dr. Hart. "While this is nice, can you explain to me why you decided to have lunch on the near outskirts of town?" He grabbed the lunchbox full of raw meat and took out a piece of steak. "Did you forget? If the townspeople see me eating this meat raw, they won't just look at me weird, they'll find out I'm an Incusapien and kick us out of town with pitchforks and torches. I don't want that to happen since lives here are dependent on my healing abilities." He then opened his mouth, bearing rows of razor sharp canine teeth before biting into the tough, rubbery meat, shaking his head to rip it off the bone. "Stewart, you know that Incusapiens live all the way in Joya and we are smack-dead in the middle of Fiore, like... 20,000 miles away. Well, more like 3,000, more or less, but you know what I mean. I doubt that people here know what an Incusapien is, but I guess I can't blame you because seeing you eat meat like that is wierd as hell if you ask me." Kristina took out her chopsticks and started eating her meal. Dr. Hart raised his voice slightly as if he got irritated, "My physiology is such that I absorb nutrients best from eating raw meat. It's not like I could eat vegetables or cooked food because I would get sick." He then bit off a piece of meat, then put it directly to Kristina's mouth with his hand. "Hey, try this, you might like it." Kristina backed away; her face painted with disgust, "Ew, are you kidding me? I'm gonna get sick if I eat that!" He smiled, retracted the meat and said, "I rest my case" before putting it in his mouth. As he was eating, he saw a man running out of the wood toward town. He stared at the man for a few seconds before realizing it was Kaito. "What's his deal? He looks like he got his ass bitten by some fire ants." Kristina said. Suddenly, Stewart caught a whiff of a faint, but familiar scent. It wasn't long before Kristina smelt the same. "Stewart, you know what that smell is?" Dr. Hart stood up and said, "Kristina, let's go check it out. This smell is peculiarly familiar to me." The Doctor and Kristina ran through the woods, following the scent using their natural heightened senses granted to them by their Dragon Slayer Magic. They ran for several minutes, but time was irrelevant to Stewart who's insatiable curiosity focused his mind only on tracking down the source of this smell. They arrived at the source; It was Scorpius and the boy. While the former was still unconscious, the latter looked to Dr. Hart with a gaze he knew all too well. Kristina and The Doctor knelt down at the boy, putting Scorpius aside since treating him was not as important to Dr. Hart as ensuring this boy's life. He put his hands together. "That moment when despair turns to hope, There is nothing that brings me greater joy. I don't know your name, but you are not dying today." Dr. Hart opened his second origin after saying this and enveloped his body in his mystical Green Aura. He then struck the body of the boy with swift chops as if he was giving a massage. With each strike, The Boy's stone body slowly turned back to flesh. After treating him, Dr. Hart asked, "What's your name?" "M-Mel Agnarsson," the boy replied. Just as he tried to get up, he stumbled. "Woah there, you have no energy to get back to town the way you are. Give me a moment and I can fix that. First, I need to check up on... Mr. Dākukawa to see if he's alright." Kristina piped in, "Wait, you two spoke briefly, only once before. How do you know his last name? Wait, don't tell me you know him from when you were in Ko-" "Kristina, now's not the time to inquire of my relationship with this man. Nursing him to health, then getting these two back to town safely is our utmost priority. You know how to Harness Aurora Australis, so I need you to use that on Mr. Agnarsson to energize him so that by the time I'm done, we can get going right away. I have to get back to the church as soon as possible, but we can't leave these two stranded out here, so get to it." "Okay..." Kristina walked over to the man while Dr. Hart operated on Scorpius. She placed her hands on Mel. "Second origin, Release!" She shouted as red-colored magic taking the shape of a flame covered her body. She then transferred this energy into Mel. "This is Aurora Australis. After I'm done transferring my energy to you, you will feel like you have lots of energy." After about 20 seconds, Kristina said, "Stewart, I'm done" before releasing her hands. Mel managed to finally get onto his feet with no stumbling. At the same time, Stewart had already been done healing Scorpius of his minor injuries through Aurora Borealis. As Dr. Hart was working on Scorpius, he began to rouse awake slowly. I can't believe I let my guard down like that... He thought as he opened his eyes, blinking rapidly at the sunlight in his eyes. He sat up slowly as he looked around. He noticed the Doctor next to him helping him up, with the girl from earlier next to the boy. "Wow, you are good Doc. I was scared that the boy was a goner. Wait... How did you two how to find us?" Scorpius asked as he brain started to work a bit faster from his unconscious state previously. "Thank You.While Kristina and I were having lunch, we saw Kaito running out of the woods close to where we were eating. It was then that we picked up a faint scent. It seemed familiar to me so I couldn't help but check it out. Thank goodness for our Dragon Slayer Magic, I'll tell you. That boy was probably less than an hour away from dying." He replied. Explanation Time "Kaito..." Scorpius said as stormy look took hold of his eyes. He stood up quickly and stretched. "So you two are Dragon Slayers right? I think I need to have a talk with Kaito if you can track him down for me. I'll carry the boy on my back so he can rest a little more." He said as he helped Mel up. With Mel on his back now he asked quietly, "Were you trying to say that Kaito, the man with me before was who hurt you?" "Yeah. He's the one. About a week ago, I tried to investigate the source of the illness that has stricken our village, and once i found it, he assaulted me." Mel spoke, his voice still raspy, but slowly recovering. "Don't worry. I'll make sure that he won't get away with it." Scorpius said to Mel as he began to walk towards the village. "Doctor, Kristina, what do we know of Kaito? What may have triggered him to attack like that?" He asked his two rescuers as he continued walking. "Probably to silence him." Kristina said. "I mean, not that i would do that, but if I were to commit a crime and someone found out, I would prooooobably try to keep his/her mouth shut... no matter what." "That does make sense," Dr. Hart piped in, "Speaking of which, Mr. Agnarsson, can you explain what it was you found to be the source of the illness?" Mel looked at Dr. Hart and said, "Rune Magic. Surrounding the village is a ring of runes placed within the ground. They are all the way behind us now, but if you were to look closely, you would see them. Anyone who crosses the boundary made by those runes get afflicted with the disease, I found." "Anyone who lives in the village gets afflicted. Though when I treated Mr. Dakukawa here, he had the same magic that cursed those afflicted within him. Since he is not from this town, I can only conclude that whatever knocked you out also planted that magic inside of you." Dr. Hart replied. "It was Kaito. Though he is primarily an Earth Magic user, he's been dabbling in... strange magic practices lately. I only know because he's my girlfriend's father. I think he is the one who set up the rune magic too, because he turned me to stone the same way he tried to with this guy here, and the runes seem to be made from the same magic." Mel stated to the group. "Well that's helpful to know. Do know of any place Kaito may go to hide, or places he usually visits in day to day life?" Scorpius asked as they continued into the village. He kept his head on a swivel and his ear tuned for any source of sound that may indicate a sneak attack of some sort. "I have no idea. Kristina and I have only been here for a few weeks and engrossed in keeping these villagers from dying." Stewart replied. Mel piped in, "He lives in the town hall along with his brother, Junji. I know he is an assistant to his brother who is the mayor of this town, so he spends a lot of time there working." Scorpius sighed. "Seems this could get very messy if the mayor becomes involved. Not a fan a politics..." he said in an aside. They continued their trek back into the town.